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By Bidisha Saha, Dipti Yadav:
From Churachandpur to Imphal, a wave of arson and vandalism in the hills unfolded following a Tribal Solidarity March on May 3. The rupture of a faultline in ethnic ties between the tribal Kukis and the Meitei majority is oozing fire that has now engulfed the northeastern state of Manipur.
The All Tribal Students’ Union of Manipur (ATSUM), Manipur’s most influential student body, alleges that clashes started after some miscreants burned a portion of the Anglo-Kuki War Memorial gate at Churachandpur.
Moments after the rally ended, a clatter started between the Meities and tribals. The Meiteis are mostly Hindus and constitute about 53 per cent of the state’s population, while the tribal groups, Kuki and Naga, are mostly Christians. Churachandpur has been the epicentre of the violence for the past couple of days.
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The long-standing demand for Meitei’s inclusion, which is the predominant ethnic group in the region, in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) for reservations and constitutional safeguards has been at the heart of the issue.
Using NASA’s open-source tool for satellite-based fire detection – FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management Systems), we were able to visualise the scattered nature of the widespread protests that originated in the outer hilly areas of Manipur and culminated into a concentrated cluster of violence in the inner areas of Imphal, Imphal West, Kangpokpi, Thoubal, Kakching, and Bishnupur as detected in the satellite image of May 4.
Genesis of Violence
Utilising satellite data, we have glanced back at the major events of violence that culminated in the destruction of key infrastructure across the Northeastern state of Manipur. The OSINT team analysed the recent videos of violence posted on social media and geolocated them on Google Earth. The sequence of events followed the burning down of the open gym at PT Sports Complex and Sadbhavna Mandap on 28 April. It was followed by the burning of the Forest Range Office within the Tuibaung area in Manipur on the 30th. Fresh incidents of violence surfaced on 3rd May which were triggered by the burning of the Anglo-Kuki War centenary gate and spread into different parts of inner Manipur. Consequently, videos showed the burning of Tangkhul Baptist Church on the following day.
Also Read | How Manipur violence unfolded: A timeline of events
IMAGE ROADMAP
When Manipur was a Union Territory, the government body of the hill areas was known as the Standing Committee. There were two laws in place – one was the Manipur State Constitution Act for the people in the valley and the other was the Manipur State Hill (Administration) Regulation, mainly for those residing in the hills. According to this, those living in the plains cannot buy land in the hills. After Manipur gained statehood, it was renamed as the Hill Areas Committee and sought to safeguard the interests of the tribal people of the state residing in the hills.
The present administration system provides autonomy to the elected Hill Areas Committee. The shrinking of available land and resources in the Imphal Valley, reservations given to the people of the hill areas and consequently, the limitation of non-tribals on buying land in the hilly districts led to Meiteis’ demand for ST status, which has been the cause of friction since the last decade.
Using Mapchecking, an open-source crowd-counting tool, we have counted an estimate of the number of people present in the Tribal Solidarity March that took place at the Lamka public ground on May 3. The open-source tool calculated on the premise of 0.2 people per square meter, and found an estimated 2316 people gathered on the ground.
Evacuations Underway
The Indian Air Force undertook the evacuation operations by employing C17 Globemaster and AN 32 aircraft for its rescue operations from two airfields in Assam.
Also Read | Manipur violence: BJP MLA attacked by mob in Imphal, critical
The Northeast Frontier Railway has stopped all Manipur-bound trains. The Army also conducted flag marches to bring the situation under control. It said in a statement that it would be undertaking flying operations to induct additional Indian Army columns commencing tonight from Guwahati and Tezpur, reported news agency ANI.
It said efforts are underway to restore normalcy in areas of Imphal and Churachandpur, adding that additional columns were also redeployed from Nagaland.
With ethnic tensions soaring, churches are reportedly being burnt by the rioters, as is evident from the social media videos that show religious extremism at its worst.
On May 4, the Centre used the services of the army and Assam Rifles to evacuate people from different parts of the state under the grip of violence. The Rapid Action Force was deployed along with the army’s Assam Rifles unit, CRPF, and state police to contain violence.
On the same day, the government issued a shoot-at-sight order in “extreme cases whereby forms of persuasion, warning, reasonable force have been exhausted and the situation cannot be controlled.”
Also Read | In violence-hit Manipur, neighbouring states step up evacuation, trains halted | All that happened in 36 hrs
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